Contractual Sex & False Consent
Žižek and his interlocutor identify the consensual sadomasochist contract as the secret model of politically-correct discourse on sex: it is the only sexual encounter that fully satisfies the demand for explicit, negotiated consent.
In his words 4
“Slave trade becomes the ultimate assertion of freedom.”17:44 Lubitsch in Times of Political Correctness · contractual consent self-negating into slavery
“They don't go far enough. What is problematic is what they call 'the enthusiastic presence of a yes-yes-yes.'”1:01:20 Like a Thief in the Night: A Question of Manners · affirmative consent is insufficient, not excessive
“I like, Stalin would be jumping out of pleasure in his grave, like you know, everything has to be recorded by the state and so on.”9:59 Birthday Special: Politics, Philosophy and Hardcore Pornography · PC consent laws as Stalinist state surveillance of intimacy
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Brassed Off coffee invitation
A woman invites a man up for coffee; he says he doesn't like coffee; she says she has none, the double withdrawal of coffee produces erotic meaning far more charged than a direct proposition.
Hotel in Skopje: ashtray with no-smoking sign
At a Skopje hotel, Žižek's chain-smoking wife is told smoking is prohibited by law, but there are ashtrays in the room. The ashtrays have a no-smoking image on their base. Žižek reads this as the collapse of the economy of transgression: prohibition and permission are superimp…
Dating agencies: 'find love without the fall'
French and American dating agency advertisements promise busy women that they can 'find yourself in love without the fall', for Žižek the very thing these agencies eliminate is what makes love love.
Machines having sex / stamina training unit
Žižek's utopian vision of modern sex: he and a woman connect their respective sex-toys to electricity and let the machines enjoy each other while they drink tea and talk, relieved of the superego command to enjoy, real romance can emerge without pressure.
James Bond Quantum of Solace, no sex at the end
Žižek notes that Quantum of Solace is the first Bond film where the love affair is not consummated, the protagonists simply split apart, as evidence that even Hollywood has abandoned the ideology of passionate love.
Da Vinci Code / Da Vinci, sex displaced onto Jesus
In The Da Vinci Code there is no sex between the protagonists, but Jesus himself has to make love to cover for the absence of sex between Robert Langdon and the heroine. In Angels & Demons, sex present in the novel is removed from the film.
Where it comes up 20
23 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there